Kentucky Changes Team Colors, Logo for 2026 USA Games

Before the Team Kentucky Announcement video introduced the athletes, Unified partners, coaches and caddies who will represent the state at the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games, a surprise announcement unveiled updated team colors and branding for Team Kentucky for the Games. A video narrated by “Voice of the Wildcats” Tom Leach and which included several Special Olympics athletes as models introduced a bold new green and blue color scheme and a team logo that includes a horse and horseshoe.

“Our green represents the color of Kentucky bluegrass, and our Blue is taken directly from the Kentucky state flag,” Special Olympics Kentucky CEO Angie Cruse-Tinch said in a video segment that joined the uniform reveal to the athlete announcement. She continued, “Our athletes have always represented our entire state at the USA Games and now their uniforms will as well.”

When the USA Games began in 2006, Special Olympics Kentucky chose maroon and gray as its team colors both to honor Eastern Kentucky University, which has hosted the Special Olympics Kentucky State Summer Games every year since 1995, but also to avoid using blue or red. Green and blue were chosen as representative of the entire state and United We Stand – half of the state motto and visible on the Kentucky state flag from which the blue was taken – was adopted as the team motto.

The uniform colors were selected in a vote of the Special Olympics Kentucky staff and both the color change and the new logo have been very well received since the announcement.

Uniforms for the unveiling video were provided by BSN Sports, which will serve as the official outfitter for Team Kentucky for the 206 and 2030 USA Games. The new Team Kentucky logo was produced by designers at BSN’s parent company Varsity Brands as part of the uniform agreement. The uniform unveiling portion of the video was produced by Black Box Media in Berea, which has produced videos from the State Summer Games for many years and which produced the Opening Ceremonies hype video for the Summer Games in 2024.

Team Kentucky fan merchandise will be available for purchase online soon.

BSN Sports is also capable of outfitting Special Olympics local teams throughout the state.

For more information about the Team Kentucky uniforms, logo, branding, or how to contact your local BSN representative, contact Special Olympics Kentucky Communications Director Mark Buerger at 502-695-8222 or mbuerger@soky.org.